Nevada family-law decisions, briefed for practice.

The Court began with a doctrinal framing distinguishing privately initiated termination petitions from those initiated by the state under NRS Chapter 128. While both fall within NRS Chapter 128 without statutory…

Standard of review: Constitutional questions, including a parent's procedural due process rights in a termination proceeding, are reviewed de novo. In re Parental Rights as to M.F., 132 Nev. 209, 212, 371 P.3d 995, 997…

Standard of review. A party petitioning to terminate parental rights must establish by clear and convincing evidence that termination is in the child's best interest and that parental fault exists, citing In re Parental…

The opinion resolves an ambiguity in Nevada's civil discovery framework as applied to parental-rights terminations. The Court reviews a denial of a motion in limine for abuse of discretion under State ex rel. Department…

Standard of review: A writ of mandamus may issue "to compel the performance of an act that the law requires or to control an arbitrary or capricious exercise of discretion." Clark Cty. Dist. Att'y v. Eighth Judicial…

The court (Hardesty, C.J., for an en banc court) addressed two threshold issues — writ jurisdiction and mootness — before reaching a substantive due process question. Writ jurisdiction. Citing NRS 34.170, In re William…

Standard of review and writ standards. The court reiterated that mandamus is available to compel an act required by law or to control arbitrary or capricious exercises of discretion, citing Int'l Game Tech., Inc. v.…

Standard of review and writ jurisdiction. The court reviewed statutory interpretation de novo, citing Hobbs v. State, 127 Nev. 234, 237, 251 P.3d 177, 179 (2011). Mandamus is available to compel a duty or control a…

The Nevada Supreme Court, sitting en banc in an opinion by Justice Parraguirre, reversed a district court order terminating a mother's parental rights and remanded for a new trial, holding that DFS confessed error under…

Standard of review. The Court of Appeals reviews a child custody order for abuse of discretion, Ellis v. Carucci, 123 Nev. 145, 149, 161 P.3d 239, 241 (2007); Roe v. Roe, 139 Nev., Adv. Op. 21, 535 P.3d 274, 284 (Ct.…

The court reviewed the district court's findings of fact for substantial evidence, applying close scrutiny because termination of parental rights is "tantamount to imposition of a civil death penalty." In re Parental…

The Supreme Court of Nevada (Douglas, J., joined by Hardesty and Parraguirre, JJ.) addressed "the need for the district court to make express findings of fact in its written order or on the record, when determining…

Standard of review: The court reviewed the consolidated original mandamus petitions under NRS 34.160, noting that mandamus is the appropriate vehicle to challenge an NRS Chapter 432B placement order because such orders…